Maldives photo courtesy of Shifaaz Shamoon
No changes were made to this image
Attribution License at Unsplash
"Rain Chaser"
I never knew,
there were so many
waiting colors in this world!
Now that I could see them,
what were they called? Did it matter?
When I could see
nearly all around, all at once and even
in particular that was still –
so deliciously fast!
I never knew,
wings could move in such ways!
To act as each their own and
race the air currents in any direction
I so chose, even
if it was only to hover.
How astonishing it was
to fly across the ocean and feel –
the monsoon winds!
I never knew,
300 million years could feel so good, but
I sensed the ancient truth in my body.
And, somehow, I knew
there would never be
anyone else like me again.
What childlike awe I had recalled
in my sweet dream as –
the thula thumbi.
BACKGROUND VIEW:
I’ve always loved dragonflies ever since I was a kid but it would be decades later before I’d even consider writing about them.
When that day finally came, I researched dragonflies and they got so much cooler in my eyes. I was trying to figure out how I could express the way I’ve always felt about dragonflies in a poem when it hit me – I could recreate that childlike wonder I’d felt so many years ago through some of the things I’d learned about them by pretending to be one.
I couldn’t think of a better way to do that than through a dream.
Originally, this free verse was written a little differently but when I revisited it again years later, I could feel how something was missing from it. Eventually, I found the video below by RoundGlass Sustain that also helped me discover more about globe skimmers, or wandering gliders. When I watched it, more than a few times, I knew where I wanted the changes to be…
and I knew Shifaaz Shamoon’s Maldives pic was the perfect image to go with this poem. Many thanks to RoundGlass Sustain for helping me find those missing pieces and Shifaaz Shamoon for topping it all off.
I love the way “Rain Chaser” feels now.
